Sen. Conroy agrees circumvention makes filter pointless

David Heath
Tuesday, 04 May 2010 17:58

Opinion and Analysis

$24M buys the Government an Internet filter which they can install, but cannot stop people bypassing.  Senator Conroy says so.

In mid January this year Greens Senator Scott Ludlam asked Senator Conroy a series of "questions on notice."  The answers were finally provided yesterday.

Sen. Ludlam has done a fine job of laying out the full range of "points of contention" with the Internet filter proposal and the Minister's replies make it very clear the Department's understanding of the issues is not as strong as Ludlam's.

The questions and answers form an extensive body of correspondence and this article cannot address all points raised.  However, there are a number of highlights that clearly address the absurdity of the proposal.

Let's start with the most damning admission. 

Ludlam:
Has the Minister ever been shown how to circumvent ISP filters of the type tested by Enex Testlab in 2009; if so, where and when was that demonstration conducted, which acts were demonstrated, and how long did the demonstration take?

Conroy:
Yes, the Minister has been shown a demonstration of a number of circumvention techniques of the filter products used in the ISP filtering pilot. This demonstration took place on Friday 5 June 2009, at the Enex TestLab at RMIT in Bundoora, VIC. The demonstration was of one hour duration, and a number of circumvention techniques were demonstrated including VPN and TOR.